


Taste

by MelissaBosquez



Series: Savior Belle [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Rumbelle - Freeform, savior belle, season 1 AU, they made me continue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-04
Updated: 2014-11-04
Packaged: 2018-02-24 01:32:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2563325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelissaBosquez/pseuds/MelissaBosquez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mr. Gold always enjoyed his solitude until one day Isabella French joined him from lunch and reminded him how wonderful companionship could be. Second in my season 1 Savior!Belle series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taste

**Author's Note:**

> Forzaouat Prompts: Gold is eating at the diner and Belle sits down with him.
> 
> Endangeredslug Prompts: Bonus food has flavor again.

It wasn’t very often when Mr. Gold felt it necessary to go to Granny’s Diner for lunch. He barely tolerated his once a month visits to the old woman to collect the rent money let alone seeing her twice in the same week. Widow Lucas was an ornery one and never seemed as outwardly terrified of him as all of the rest of Storybrooke’s inhabitants. She could slip in a snide comment or two under her breath as she gathered the money as quickly as possible. Sometimes it could be refreshing but more often than not it put him in a fouler mood.

More than that, he felt all of the food that the diner had was often overpriced and not worth the expenditure. He had tried a new item, each time it was necessary for him to visit and it was always the same. Bland, undercooked, overcooked, runny. It may have had to do with Lucas making a statement about how she felt about him and his rental prices but then again, for as far as he could remember food had always been this way. Most times he wouldn’t even bother to eat. If he did he ate small simple things, like eggs or sandwiches. Usually even those lacked all appeal. If it wasn’t an absolute necessity to survive he doubted that he would ever eat anything again.

Alas, as he sat fixing an old clock however, he could no longer put off the gnawing pang of hunger in his stomach and he didn’t feel like going back to his empty home. Granny’s was within walking distance and if he was lucky he could be in and out without much of a fuss. When he finally entered the diner he felt a vague fascination that most of the customers eating turned to gape at him, standing in the doorway, letting a chilly bit of air run through in his wake. He made his way to the back corner booth and smirked when the town drunk Leroy and Mr. Clark vacated the chairs beside his booth, hurrying to the bar.

The scantily clad waitress, Ruby, he thought, rushed towards him as fast as her heels would carry her. She cleared her throat nervously and took down his order, iced tea and a hamburger with extra pickles, before skirting away from him like he had the plague.

For the first time in a long time, Gold realized that the sun was actually shining instead of being covered by the normal dark gray clouds that haunted the skyline. It made him think back and remember that woman that he had met outside of Granny’s Inn several days ago.

Gold had been doing his best to keep tabs on Isabella French but so far it seemed like she was just a normal tourist. She had been doing some sightseeing around Storybrooke, checking out their parks and the local shops that catered to that kind of adventure. He had noticed her checking out the defunct Public Library with more than just an honest curiosity. It seemed like she had been looking for something more, though he could have been completely over analyzing her lingering gazes whenever she passed by it.

She had not been to his shop yet and he tried to pretend like that didn’t bother him. He figured after their brief conversation that she might be interested in taking a quick look around. Isabella had acted like she had known him, or at the very least wanted to get to know him but he quickly shut down that train of thought. He was nothing more than an old, grouchy man, content with his feared reputation and his lonely nights, slowly drinking himself away in the study of his large empty house. Someone so beautiful, young and vibrant as she would want nothing at all to do with him.

“Hello, Mr. Gold!”

 It took him a moment to realize that someone was actually addressing him, let alone the woman of his thoughts, smiling like she was genuinely glad to see him. He cursed himself for not even being aware of her entrance nor her approach to his table. Gold wasn’t the only one surprised. The rest of the diner had turned and was watching this exchange with curious expressions. He narrowed his eyes at several of them and they quickly turned away lest their rent be raised the next day.

“Ms. French,” he finally addressed her but said nothing more and she took the opportunity to slide into the seat across from him,

“I hope I’m not bothering you. You just looked lonely,” she said and instinctively reached for his hand.

Gold’s eyes immediately narrowed in apprehension and he stared at her soft pale hand on top of his larger and calloused one. It was reminiscent of a pure young woman grasping the claw of a terrible beast and it made him shift uncomfortably but he didn’t pull away either.

“Ms. French I can assure you that I neither need nor am I interested in the company of any of the buffoons this town has to offer. I rather find my solitude quite amicable to my disposition.”

“I’m sorry,” she said and drew her hand away and Gold instantly regretted the loss of her warmth. “Would you prefer me to go elsewhere?”

“Well, I didn’t say that now did I, dearie?” he smirked.

Isabella smiled at that but did not try to take his hand again.

“Are you enjoying your time in our quaint little town, Ms. French?”

“I thought I told you that you could call me Belle?” she grinned and again Gold was struck by how familiar she seemed. “I have been enjoying myself. I’ve had a while to look around now and start to get to know some of the people. I was actually thinking about extending my stay here. Perhaps putting down some roots. Getting my own place.”

Gold couldn’t resist the chortle that escaped his lips at that particular admission. Storybrooke was not the kind of town that you wanted to visit on vacation. It was even less so the kind of place that anyone wanted to settle down and put down any roots in unless they were perhaps over the age of 60. There was nothing here to offer anyone.

“Forgive me for my jaded views but why on earth would a beautiful woman like yourself wish to tie herself to this dreadful place?”

“I don’t think that it is dreadful at all really. Perhaps a little sleepy but that’s true of most small towns. I feel like I have a lot to offer this community and its inhabitants. For starters I was wondering if you knew why the library is closed? Was there a fire or some other kind of tragedy that would keep it shut down?”

Gold wrinkled his nose as he tried to think back and remember just how long the building had been vacant. Nothing had happened that he could recall, it had just always been closed.

“It has been empty for as long as I can remember. I think perhaps the Mayor had a hand in it, but I can’t remember. The memory is a bit fuzzy around the edges. Another downfall of getting on in years, I suppose.”

Belle narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips like she wanted to add more to the topic but at that moment Ruby arrived with his Hamburger and Iced tea, skittishly placing the plate before him and darting off behind the counter once more.  

Gold had to admit that for the first time in a long time, he looked at a plate of food and was actually looking forward to taking a bite. The hamburger was full and juicy looking. He removed the top bun and reached and squirted a generous amount of ketchup upon it when he noticed Belle’s curious glance.

He quirked a brow and found himself wanting to tease this silly woman whom was insistent upon keeping the beast company. “Ketchup,” he began pointing at the bottle, “is one of this worlds most powerful forms of magic.”

Belle’s eyebrows quirked up at the word magic but she quickly schooled her features to a polite smile and honestly laughed at his ridiculous joke. This caught the attention of their fellow diners once more, unbelieving that anyone would want to be in Mr. Gold’s presence, let alone enjoy themselves while doing so.

“Well, Mr. Gold,” Belle said rising to her feet and smoothing out her faded jeans, “I suppose I’ll leave you to your meal. I was just picking up a take out order. There’s a few more things around Storybrooke that I want to take a look at. Thank you for keeping me company.”

Gold felt a genuine smile tugging at his lips. He didn’t know how she did it, but this young woman had genuinely charmed him.

“It was my pleasure, Ms. French.”

“Belle!” she corrected with a smile and startled him by grabbing ahold of his hand once more. “One of these days I will have to take a look around your pawn shop. I have only been able to glance through the window but you have some fascinating pieces on display.”

“I..uh..” he faltered, the promise of her seeking him out once more bringing up feelings he hadn’t felt for as long as he could remember. “I would like that,” he finally managed.

“Good,” she said and patted him lightly. “Goodbye Mr. Gold!”

Gold watched as she smiled and turned away from him, buttoning her jacket back up as she reached the counter and called out a greeting to Ruby, like they were old best friends before taking her boxed meal and leaving.

Belle French was a curious little thing. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t looking forward to her visit to his pawnshop in the future. The thought alone had him feeling like a teenager on his first date with his crush. He sighed to himself trying to push those feelings back down into hiding. He wasn’t a teenager, he was nearly fifty years old, for christ’s sake.

Gold also refused to believe that Belle French had anything to do with his lunch being the first meal in a very long time that hadn’t tasted like ash in his mouth. He had eagerly cleared his plate and asked for several refills of his iced tea by the time he rose to leave. He especially refused to believe that Belle and her impromptu visit to his table had anything to do with him not arguing and raising the rent with Widow Lucas for the three dollar charge for the extra pickles.


End file.
